CHAMPIONS AGAIN: Princeton High girls’ swimming star Annie Flanagan displays her freestyle form in a race last season. Last Saturday, junior star Flanagan placed first in both the 50-meter freestyle and 100 backstroke at the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Swimming Championships. Flanagan’s heroics helped PHS place first in the team standings at the meet. It marked the fourth straight title for the Tigers in the county competition, formerly known as the Mercer County Swimming Championships. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

As Annie Flanagan got into the starting block for the 50-meter freestyle race at the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Swimming Championships last Saturday, she couldn’t stand still.

“I try to hype myself up,” said Princeton High junior star Flanagan. “I jump around, I will slap my chest, my legs, and kind of shake it out.”

Jumping out of the block at the WW/P-North pool, Flanagan sprinted to victory, clocking a time of 27.52 to edge runner-up Ariel Bernard of Robbinsville (27.72) and PHS teammate Jenna Barry, the third-place finisher in 27.90.

“Oh that race is so hard, I know the other swimmers, Ariel and Jenna, and they are phenomenal swimmers,” said Flanagan. “It is really anybody’s game. I finished and I touched and I had no idea what happened. I slowly turn around and look at the scoreboard and yeah. It’s great to see.”

Later in the meet, Flanagan cruised to a win in the 100 backstroke, coming in at 1:06.87, nearly four seconds ahead of second-place finisher Melisa Kocak of WW/P-South (1:10.13).

“It was still a fun race,” said Flanagan. “I was a little more comfortable in that race.”

Flangan and her teammates had a lot of fun on the day as they took first in the team standings, piling up 269 points with WW/P-South coming in second at 177. It marked the fourth straight title for the program at the county competition, formerly known as the Mercer County Swimming Championships.

In rolling to the victory, PHS dominated the relays, placing first in the 200 and 400 free events and third in the 200 medley. Freshman Barry took first in the 100 free in addition to her third place finish in the 50 free. Senior Rachel McInerney came in second in both the 200 individual medley and 400 free.

For Flanagan, a special team camaraderie helped the Tigers achieve the four-peat.

“It is four years in a row, it is amazing,” said Flanagan. “The team is so great this year. I love this team. I think we have just gotten so much closer, there are just so many amazing girls.”

One of those girls is Flanagan’s younger sister, freshman Charli.

“I was so excited to her swim with me this year,” said Flanagan. “In prelims, we actually swim in the same heat. We swim in the same events. She swam 50 free and 100 back. It is amazing to have her swimming. I love it.”

Over the years, Flanagan has gravitated to the sprint events.

“In my freshman year, I started with the 200 freestyle and I slowly moved down to sprints,” said Flanagan. “I have a lot of events that I can swim, but it is whatever the teams needs and I will do that.”

PHS first-year head coach Patrick Remboski likes having Flanagan on the team.

“Annie was awesome, she helped me a ton collaborating with the lineup and the relay order,” said Remboski. “We wanted to keep all of our relays well rounded. She has a really positive insight. Her swimming is incredible. I think she wanted to be in the 100 free but she took one for the team and stepped up and swam in the 50 free and got it done for us. That gave other swimmers the chance to hopefully make finals in other events.”

Remboski got incredible efforts across the board in the meet.

“There were a ton of great swims, I couldn’t be prouder,” said Remboski. “We knew it was going to be tough coming in. I think from 90 percent of our prelim times, we dropped times in the final. So it was really awesome stuff. The 400 free relay dropped five seconds there.”

Freshman Barry made quite a debut in the county competition.

“Jenna has been a great addition to the team, I am excited for the rest of this year and the next three years,” said Remboski. “Her performance today was great with the 100 free, 50 free, and the relays. She really did an incredible job, especially for a freshman. This is a big meet, there are a lot of people here.”

McInerney produced a superb performance in her final county appearance.

“Rachel did awesome, I am so proud of her,” said Remboski. “She helped as well with coming up with different ideas of relay orders and stuff. In her events, the 400 free and the 200 IM, she did a really awesome job. She had some tough competition in both of those events.”

Coming through with another title was an awesome accomplishment for the program and sets the tone for future success.

“We were just talking about it; for the seniors, it is something to really be proud of — four years, four county titles,” said Remboski.“We couldn’t be prouder of them. They set the precedent for future teams. This is now the standard. It was good for us. Winning the first CVC was especially good.”

With the state sectional around the corner, Remboski believes the Tigers can build on their performance in the county meet.

“There were a lot of tough swims here, it is really good prep,” said Remboski. “We are in a really tough section this year. I think what this does is build more confidence. You do the small things and then when you see it come to fruition in the pool, it is a great, great thing. It builds some confidence leading into the sectional tournament.”

Flanagan, for her part, is confident heading into states.

“We definitely have a tough next couple of meets,” and Flanagan. “I think everyone really showed up today and brought it. I am really excited for postseason.”